Windmills use the wind's power for creating a functional action. The wind blows across the windmill's large blades. As the windmill spins, the rotating action transfers to a mechanical shaft. In turn, the shaft powers a water pump for farm applications or activates a generator for electrical production applications.
Children retain a lot of information by visual cues. A windmill's functions may seem confusing to a younger child. In response, many caregivers have children construct a pinwheel for visualizing the windmill's movements. Children are given a square piece of paper they can color for a personalized look. Thumbtack holes are placed in each corner, and center point, of each square creation by the caregivers. Parents or teachers cut the square paper from each corner to the center, allowing the center point to remain intact. Each corner should be looped up to the center point. Adults can stick a thumbtack through the center point, holding all four corners intact and into a pencil's eraser top. The pencil becomes a holder for the pinwheel, or windmill, creation.
The children are asked to blow on the pinwheel creation. Caregivers can explain how the children's breath is the wind and the pinwheel is the windmill. If the children can let go of the pencil base, while blowing on the pinwheel, they would observe the pencil spinning around. This spinning is similar to an attached shaft rotating for generating electricity or movement.
Caregivers can also experiment with pinwheels of various sizes. Some children can create small models, whereas others can produce larger models. The children can compare the pinwheel creations, observing that larger pinwheels hold more wind so more electricity can be generated with a windmill.